UK Expats In EU Given Hope By Labour Turnaround

A statement by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is giving hope to UK expats in the EU.

After three years of sitting on an increasingly uncomfortable fence, Jeremy Corbyn has finally come out in favour of a second referendum on the as yet unelected new PM’s Brexit plan. Even better, he finally stated the Labour Party would campaign in favour of a Remain option. Whether it was the unbearable thought of a Boris Johnson premiership or the final realisation that the majority of party members want exactly that, the fact that he’s finally arrived at the same conclusion was enough to spur hope amongst the EU’s British expat communities.

Corbyn’s email to party members covered both possibilities resulting from a Johnson triumph – a no-deal Brexit and a damaging Brexit. His move brings the opposition party more in line with demands from lawmakers and party members urging the embrace of a second referendum as the only way to clear the poisoned air hovering over the question of how to leave the European Union. For UK expats living and working in EU member states, it may just be a single breath of fresh air, but it’s also a massive move in the right direction.

Media commentators are suggesting Corbyn’s about-turn may be too little, too late as it falls short of a full commitment to a second referendum on the merits and de-merits of leaving the EU, but London’s financial community including banks and other experts as well as the business community as a whole are now telling it like it is with no holds barred. For expats hoping against hope they’ll wake up from their ongoing nightmares, it’s at least a start as well as one way to ensure Johnson’s dreams of fame are of extremely short duration.